Welcome to London West End WI

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

LWWI January Meeting - Tuesday January 17th 2012

December 2011 saw us having a wonderful communal meal together. It was such a lovely way to round off 2011.

And we now look forward to 2012.

Just to remind you that the next meeting will be held on the 17th of January at 6.30pm. To set us up for a positive 2012 we have a speaker who will be presenting a talk on De-stress in 2012.

A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body and a healthy spirit is more than the thing you brush off and wear to church or your grandmother's. Today we will refine your list of how you take care of yourself and those around you to make 2012 a great year.

Also to remind everyone its time to pay our membership fees which is £31.50 for 2012. You can pay by cash, cheque or paypal with the link on the website.http://www.londonwestendwi.co.uk/ under the membership tab.

Hope to see you all there for what should be as always an enjoyable evening.

The West End WI

Dates for the Diary Jan 2012

Concert invitation for February
My name is David Williams and I'm a Director of the London Arts Orchestra. On the evening of 2nd February, we'll be putting on a completely free concert at Christ Church Spitalfields.
I'd love to invite your members to this great community event. I've attached a short letter which will give you further details.

On February 2nd 2012 at 19:30 in the beautiful setting of Christ Church Spitalfields in Shoreditch, the London Arts Orchestra will be performing an epic evening of orchestral music:
* W.A. Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola

* Gustav Mahler – Fifth Symphony

As part of celebrating the tenth performance of the orchestra since its founding in June 2009, we will be making this concert completely free for everyone to attend.

We are conscious that classical music, particularly orchestral music on the scale and depth of Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, can often be inaccessible or unavailable. Too often, the problem is the cost of going to watch a concert. We would like to help people ‘dip their toe into the water’ and try classical music without having to take the risk that they may not like it – nor face the restriction of a ticket fee.

We really would like as many people from around the community as possible to hear this music. It has been our experience that these opportunities are all too few – so to enable this performance to be the first of many, we are looking to spread the word out to as many community groups in and around the City of London, Shoreditch and Bethnal Green areas as possible.

If you are interested in bringing a troupe of members, then please let us know by emailing info@londonartsorchestra.co.uk. You can also ask us queries at this address.

I really hope that able to make it. If there are any questions then please get in contact - our details are below.
Thanks

Thought for the month: [ no we are not getting all new age just thought it would be nice to put something else in D4D email for our first entry for 2012, weirdly not so much news for this mnth.]

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.

I found the following the other week which I thought might be of interest to you all:

Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.

I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

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November Meeting

Our November meeting is on Wednesday 15th November 2017. We'll be holding our AGM to review the year and elect a committee, and following that with a drama workshop.

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Our December craft club will take place on Tuesday 5th Novmeber 2017, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm at Atlantis Books on Museum Street, when we'll be making paper Christmas tree table decorations!

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